One of my readers purchased an antique rifle which turned out to be a rare Spanish needle gun. Needle guns are so named because the firing pin it literally a very long needle. The needle is needed because the primer sits at the base of the bullet. The needle must penetrates the paper cartridge and the powder before it can hit the primer.
The guns inscription reads ...
"PRIVILITEO DE INVENCION
SORIANO LO INVENTO MADRID"
"Ano De 1855"
I really enjoy examining old gun designs and marveling at their simplicity, creativity and, in many cases, naivety.
A DIY needle made from wire.
[ Many thanks to Vaar for emailing me the photos. ]
UPDATE: A photo of the muzzleloader-esque takedown mechanism ...
The journalists at China's Peoples Daily appear to be even less informed about guns than your average American journalist. Yesterday they reported that the Taliban were training monkeys to operate AK-47 rifles and Bren light machine guns.
Recently, a British journalist went to Pakistan and Afghanistan border of Waziristan’s tribal region where he witnessed a few of the monkey soldiers armed with an AK-47 rifle and Bren light machine gun. Taliban militants in the past have strictly kept the program secret.
The Infinite monkey theorem states that if you give a million monkeys a million typewriters they will eventually produce the complete works of Shakespeare. I say that if you give a million monkeys a million AK-47s all that you will end up with is a lot of dead monkeys.
[ Many thanks to Rolf for emailing me the link. ]
Accurate Shooter writes ...
For more than a century, makers of rifle stocks have used large, complicated mechanical duplicators to reproduce stock designs. These contraptions rely on mechanical linkages to follow the lines of a stock and reproduce the shape on a new blank. Now new 3D scanning technology and CNC milling systems may render the mechanical stock duplicator obsolete.
Very nifty.
Read more about it at AccurateShooter.
Liquid armor has been in the news quite a few times over the past couple of years. It looks like the technology is progressing nicely. BBC News reports ...
The BAE scientists describe it as "bullet-proof custard".
...
"In standard bullet-proof vests, we use thick, heavy, layered plates of Kevlar that restrict movement and contribute to fatigue," said Mr Penny.
In the tests, scientists used a large gas gun to fire ball bearing-shaped metal bullets at over 300 metres per second into two test materials - 31 layers of untreated kevlar and 10 layers of kevlar combined with the shear-thickening liquid.
"The Kevlar with the liquid works much faster and the impact isn't anything like as deep," he explained.
[ Many thanks to Mik for emailing me the link. ]
R. Lee Ermey, armed with his trusty Springfield, takes on an Enfield armed Brit.
[ Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the link. ]
chinaSMACK.com has an interesting blog post about the reaction of Chinese internet users' to an article about guns sales at Walmart. Many of the comments are quite reasonable.
One response was ...
I’d like to ask the lou zhu a question. It may be very naive but please be so kind as to give me an answer. Since guns are sold like this in America, is their government not afraid of social problems? Right now in Shanghai, the supermarkets selling cooking knives have also locked them inside glass display cases like this.
Another was ...
But in China, that is not possible, and the key is that the character of the people [on average] is not there yet. If firearms were available for sale in China, then we’d probably have to wear bullet-proof vests in order to go out.
I think the Chinese sell themselves sort. I have no doubt they are just as sane and capable of self-control as the rest of humanity.
[ Many thanks to Squidpuppy for emailing me the link. ]
The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art has this incredibly beautifully engraved Colt Third Model Dragoon revolver. The gun was part of three pairs created for Samuel Colt to exhibit in Europe during the Crimean war.
Click on the images to increase their size.
[ Many thanks to Jonathan for taking the photos. ]
Nearly 70 years after it was first produced by Mauser during WWII, the MG 151/20 20mm autocannon is still being manufactured by French firm Nexter. In the below photos it is hooked up to one of those fancy remote control turrets which is mounted to a stripped-down raider version of the Panhards VBL (Véhicule Blindé Léger).
[ Many thanks to Aurelien for proving the photo and information. ]
UPDATE: My mistake. It's not a remote controlled turret. I mistook the holo/red dot sight for a camera.
The SCAR-H PR (Precision Rifle) show below has an extra rail for accessories (this one is with the KAC front sight, but future models will have front sight integrated into the rail), a heavy 20" barrel, new two-stage adjustable trigger and a 6-positon buttstock with ergonomic butt plate and new adjustable and nonslip cheek piece.
The USSOCOM version will be tan and called Mk 20 Mod 0.
No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money has also blogged about this gun.
[ Many thanks to REMOV for sending me info and photos. ]
Two Russian firms, PMG LLC and PROline, have developed a 10 round drum magazine1 for the Saiga-12 shotgun. The SD-10 looks pretty nifty. It is slightly shorter than than standard 5 round magazine while holding twice the capacity. The final product will be made of black high-strength polyamide with a translucent polycarbonate back.
The manufacturer is currently looking for US importers ( Their email: PMG-LLC [at] Yаndex [dot] ru )
